TSC Rules Cyntoia Brown Can Be Released After 51 Years

The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled today that Cyntoia Brown, a Nashville woman serving a life sentence in prison for a murder she committed at 16, could be eligible for release after she serves 51 years in prison, The Tennessean reports. Brown's legal team is challenging her life sentence by pointing to a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling saying that giving juveniles life sentences without parole was cruel and unusual in most cases. During a hearing this summer, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals judges suggested that if Brown would never be eligible for release under state law, her sentence could be overturned. The appeals court had asked Tennessee's high court to weigh in before it made a final decision as it, too, considers the case.